A European summit with Iran failed to deliver a breakthrough on Friday despite all sides agreeing to continue discussions that could end the conflict.
Germany, France, the UK and the EU urged Iran to revive diplomatic negotiations with Washington. Iran said it would only consider diplomacy once Israel put an end to its bombing campaign.
“Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again and once the aggression is stopped,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said after the meeting. “I make it crystal clear that Iran's defence capabilities are non-negotiable.”
Speaking shortly after the meeting, US President Donald Trump appeared to dismiss European diplomatic efforts. “We've been speaking to Iran and we'll see what happens,” he said, adding that he believed that talks in Geneva had not helped.
“Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe, Iran wants to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help on this one.”
Talks were convened in Geneva an attempt to contain the Israel-Iran war, with Europeans saying diplomacy must prevail despite the US appearing to weigh its military options.
“We invited the Iranian minister to consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes, which we also hope for,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.
Mr Trump also reiterated criticism against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, saying she was wrong to say in March that Iran was not seeking to build a nuclear weapon. Iran was weeks or months from having a nuclear weapon, according to Mr Trump.
His office on Thursday said that he would make a decision on whether the US will join Israel’s war on Iran “in the next two weeks”, though on Friday, he called that time frame “the maximum”.
In a joint statement, European powers took a firm line with Iran as they “reiterated their long-standing concerns about Iran’s expansion of its nuclear programme, which has no credible civilian purpose”.
“They shared their support for discussions to continue and welcomed continuing US efforts to seek a negotiated solution. They expressed their willingness to meet again in the future,” said the statement.
Mr Araghchi, who travelled out of his country for the first time since the war erupted, also said he was “in favour of continuing discussions with the E3 [Germany, France, the UK] and the European Union”.
A 'perilous moment'
Israel appears to show little appetite to put an end to hostilities. Leaders have threatened to kill Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel's envoy to the UN, Danny Danon, told the UN Security Council his country would not stop its attacks “until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled”.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy described the war as a “perilous moment”.
“It is hugely important that we don’t see regional escalation of this conflict,” he said.
Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council before meeting his European counterparts in Geneva, Mr Araghchi described Israel's attacks on Iran last week as a “betrayal of diplomacy”.
The attacks caused the cancellation of the sixth round of US-Iran talks in Oman.
“We were supposed to meet the Americans on June 15 to craft a very promising agreement for a peaceful resolution of issues fabricated over our peaceful nuclear programme,” Mr Araghchi said.
Israel began attacking Iran on June 13, saying it aimed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme does not have military purposes – a claim rejected by western countries and Israel.
Diplomacy first
Europeans argue that they are best placed to negotiate with Tehran, pointing at Mr Trump's withdrawal under his previous mandate of a 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
“Military operations can delay a nuclear programme but in no way eliminate it,” Mr Barrot said.
He also warned against intentions laid out by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to force regime change in Iran.
“We know well, having seen it at work in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, how illusory and dangerous it is to want to impose regime change from the outside,” Mr Barrot said.
The meeting was preceded by a lunch attended by the European ministers, without Mr Araghchi, during which they reviewed preparatory discussions with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Mr Barrot's office said Mr Rubio had told him that the US is ready for direct contact with Iranians “at any time”.
The Europeans appeared to have delivered on Israeli demands to request a complete dismantling of Iran's nuclear programme and its ballistic missile programme, as well as its support of proxy groups throughout the Middle East. Speaking earlier in the day, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Paris's proposal to Iran would link all three issues in one package.
Mr Macron said he wanted Iran to move towards “zero nuclear enrichment”. This represents an alignment with previous requests made by Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu.
France had previously never deviated from the position agreed in the JCPOA, which capped enrichment activities at 3.67 per cent.
Those close to the Israeli position assess that the capability of enrichment to the lower level of 3.67 per cent in the JCPOA means it is too easy to breach by enriching to a higher level. Israel says Iran could pursue a civilian nuclear programme without conducting enrichment on home soil.
This would represent a repudiation of the long-standing Iranian position that all countries are entitled to enrich uranium under UN safeguards and international treaties.
Huddersfield Town permanent signings:
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- Tom Ince (winger): signed from Derby County for £7.7m
- Aaron Mooy (midfielder): signed from Manchester City for £7.7m
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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The five pillars of Islam
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)
Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)
Saturday
Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Sunday
Schalke v Augsburg (3.30pm)
Mainz v RB Leipzig (5.30pm)
Cologne v Fortuna Dusseldorf (8pm)
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
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5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,200m; Winner: Wafy, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)
Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15
Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)
Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49
Final round
25 under - Antoine Rozner (FRA)
23 - Francesco Laporta (ITA), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG)
21 - Grant Forrest (SCO)
20 - Ross Fisher (ENG)
19 - Steven Brown (ENG), Joakim Lagergren (SWE), Niklas Lemke (SWE), Marc Warren (SCO), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT)
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Biog
Age: 50
Known as the UAE’s strongest man
Favourite dish: “Everything and sea food”
Hobbies: Drawing, basketball and poetry
Favourite car: Any classic car
Favourite superhero: The Hulk original
